black birds and pink roses
by Aiko Isari
Summary: AU. [TT/PMMM]In the coffee shop, the two sat and talked. A goddess of hope, and a bringer of despair. It wasn't hard to see how they got along. Takes place before "Birthmark" and post episode 12 in respective canons.


A/N: Happy Halloween! One of many things being posted tonight! Hooray for having way too much sugar today. This is for the crossover challenge of the RLt Green Room! Note: You may want to know the canons of both shows, at least for the sake of Madoka Magica because spoilers. I do not mention much of Season 4 of Teen Titans because at this point it hasn't happened yet. Plus, AU. Comments will be appreciated and noted. Enjoy!

* * *

_black birds and pink roses_

"You're here!"

"Don't sound so surprised."

In truth, the first speaker was fixated on was that the second wasn't wearing her cloak. It was an attention-grabber more than the fact that she was here at all, hence why she stared at the nearly bare limbs with big, pink eyes. She rarely saw her wearing anything remotely like civilian clothes, mostly due to some shame that the first never understood consciously. In the back of her mind, it was clear, but it was too deeply tied into the other's psyche for her to try and justify or explain it.

"Raven, it was a compliment." Madoka smiled to take the bite out of her words. She knew the other girl didn't mean to sound harsh, not to her, but also knew that nice was not the first or even the fifth adjective used to describe her former mentor, and she had taught the other too well. "You look nice, by the way."

it was nice to see her wearing jeans and a shirt that fit her, for a change.

"Wouldn't have been able to sneak out of the Tower if I didn't change." Raven sat down, holding a steaming plastic cup in one thin hand. "Not even sure I succeeded in sneaking out." She paused before taking a sip. "Nice dress. White looks good on you." The compliment was spoken with an offhanded shrug, like she was stating the obvious instead of doing something decisively unusual.

Not that her leaving her room of her own free will wasn't unusual.

Madoka giggled, brushing pink hairs to relax in the white ribbons they were tied in. "Thanks, but I thought I stood out a bit."

"You are in California," Raven said, almost smiling. Almost. She picked at the blue jeans with her free hand. "You only stand out because you're wearing a layer of clothes in the first place."

Another giggle. "That's a good point. Your friends are looking for you."

Raven shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I have my communicator."

Madoka's smile turned at the edges, feline and with a touch of a raised eyebrow. "Such a naughty girl."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who looks twelve."

Madoka only grinned. "Does take the impact out of it, I guess. Being in and out of existence will make me forget that." She sighed and sipped at her tea once more. In the back of her mind, there was a ripple, and then nothing. "It's soon, huh? Nothing to look forward to, the end of the world." Her tone, serene as she had mastered it, almost made her wince.

Raven only took another sip of tea, placing purple eyes on pink. "It's not something I get to look at myself. The visions were enough. Although, you would probably know more than I would." The last words were an afterthought, spoken with a minor shake in each syllable that hid something like a sob of pain that wasn't.

Madoka shook her head. "I don't know precise details, Rae. I will when we get there, certainly, but not now. We aren't there yet." She sank a fork into her cake, a little harder than necessary. It made a cold _thunk_ against the plate. "How are you feeling?"

"Trying to avoid feeling." Madoka's eyes changed from soft flower petals to fire and amber stone. The other didn't meet this gaze, focusing instead on the flatbread placed in front of her. "I'm already going to kill them," she stated in a voice that was trying not to be brittle. "I would rather not hurt them more than I am."

"Atruistic of you."

Raven twitched grey lips into a parody of a smirk. "Hypocrite."

A sigh. "I'm not patronizing you."

"You're worrying about me." _That's weird enough._

Madoka groaned low, resting her head on her hands. "I worry about _all_ of you, Rachel." The use of her other name made Raven frown, but just a tad, further down. It was honestly, very hard for either of them to pretend to converse since Madoka always knew what she was thinking and Raven's empathy left very little to chance. Trying at a subject was enough "It's my pride and joy to worry about all of you and your happiness… even if I can't always give it to you. Considering the circumstances, I'm more inclined to be worried."

There was a low sigh. "...I know."

And that was what made it difficult, and Madoka knew that.

"Would it help if I told you that it isn't set in stone?" Madoka took another sip of tea, raising a pink stare, returned to calm as if nothing happened.

Raven shrugged, tried to look like a robot in it, failed with a trail of sagging muscle and crinkles of age at the corners of her eyes. No, not age, tears, tears that were only pristine because of the slivers of humanity in her blood. Madoka reached to wipe them away with a gloved hand and Raven almost jerked back with the reflexes of a cat. Then she stopped and allowed the action, expression one Madoka read and reread with only a smile.

"No," Raven finally said, closing her eyes and exhaling a deep breath. "No, because I don't know what _it_ is."

"Pedantics."

"It's the end of the world. That's not a simple topic. There are more books on the topic than living Puella Magi."

Madoka chuckled, pulling her hand back to her cake. She managed to take a bite without crushing the fork. Sometimes, her friend's negativity was a bit overwhelming, even for her. However, she probably understood better than anyone.

Growing up was recognizing what you could and couldn't do with reality.

Raven had nothing else to be but an adult in that.

Madoka took that fact and shoved it to the back of her conscious brain, the one that was killing a Witch somewhere in the city. It didn't matter where. Her face twisted as she did and Raven's long fingers rested on her arm. "What," she said, grinning like a cat. "Do I look scary?"

Raven rolled her eyes, and went back to her tea. She didn't move her arm, however "Something like that. No Deathstroke, if it's a comfort."

"Minute comfort," Madoka replied, smiling. "Close enough to his master, though."

Raven's fingers clenched around Madoka's tiny wrist and she grit her teeth in an effort not to snarl. "You aren't like him at _all_ and you _know _that." Her purple eyes flashed red and black at the same time, burning like dying ashes. Madoka patted the grey hand.

"We're both existences of one concept or another, Rae-chan," the pink-haired girl said, loosening the tenseness in her shoulders. "If anything, it's an insult to him, neh?"

Raven laughed, and it was slightly high in pitch and light, uncontrolled. "I guess you're right."

Madoka giggled, and rose to her feet. "Can we go for a walk, Rae?"

Raven nodded, sitting back and standing up. "It's fine." Her expression was flat, like it normally was, but Madoka grabbed her hand anyway and tugged her along. It was a mark of who she was that Raven didn't snatch back. "Feeling affectionate, are we now?"

"Making up for lost moments I suppose," was the reply. "Now, let's go, before your friends find us _not_ doing something unusual."

"Think it's a little bit late for that."

* * *

"Do you regret it?"

Raven frowned. "I don't see how I _could_."

Madoka giggled. "I guess that's like asking me if I regret it, huh?" She watched her friend on the bench, then turned towards the stars in the sky. "I used to think, when I was little, that all the stars were other worlds, and when one fell, the world was dying. I wonder, even now, if maybe I was right." She tilted her head back as she balanced precariously on carefully chiseled stones. "Incubators sure aren't models of patience, if I think of it like that.

"And you say _I'm_ the morbid one." Raven turned a page of her book, shaking her head with a small smile.

Madoka pouted. "Where'd you get to be so cheeky?"

"You never stopped me."

"Too much time listening to Sayaka and her hero stories," Madoka said, smiling and sighing in the same gesture. Raven didn't deny this, merely looked away. Madoka laughed. "I was right, I was right! You're such a good girl!"

"... I wish I was."

Raven kept the unexpressive frown, but her breath hitched and she shifted in her seat, gestures normally hidden in the folds of her cloak. Her nails scratched at the wood like she wanted to gouge the screws from the old bench.

Madoka smiled, smiling like a person who disliked the taste of sweetened lemonade. "... That wish can't come true."

"...I know that."

Madoka changed tactics. "Would you rather you never have known, have been trapped on Azarath and left completely unaware with voices in your head and powers never being controlled and never meeting the people you loved?"

Raven glared. "Of course not!" Her eyes flickered red. "There would be even more dead than there already are! I'd rather they'd-"

"I'm rather happy you aren't dead, thank you very much, Rae," Madoka said, golden eyes trying to burrow holes in her friend's chest and failing. That trick had stopped working when the girl was six and Madoka was not happy about that. "I'm happy you aren't in some other dimension and that you're standing at here giving me that glare Azar should never have taught you. I like you alive, so do your friends, and ironically enough, your father seems pretty happy you're here!"

"As sick as _that _is."

"Missing the point, Rae!"Raven glowered, and her face then slipped back into the closed-off look that was like a slammed door. "Oh, don't you _dare_." Madoka rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "I had Homura-chan give me that look so many times in so many different ways and I _still _knew she was upset. I've known you every minute of your life, Raven. Don't even try, for both our sakes."

Despite herself, and the seriousness of the argument, Raven had to hold back a smile. "You say the most disturbing things."

Madoka pouted, and the tension in her shoulders eased with reluctance. "So long as it gets you out of that pessimistic attitude, I will act like my mother if I have to."

"Complimentary tactics, as well as dishonest," Raven said under her breath. "Playing very foully today."

"You will thank me next week."

"..."

Madoka sighed. "Stop. Now you're doing this to annoy me." Raven smirked. "That's better." She jumped down to face her friend fully. "You know I care, right?" she said softly, leaning in as close as she dared. "You aren't Homura-chan, but you're as important to me as all the others that pass through my hall. I don't like this situation; I can't. But…"

"... I know." Raven sighed, snapping her book shut. "I know Madoka. I'm sorry."

Madoka blinked. "... Well." She frowned, pausing for a moment to find words.

"What?"

Madoka grinned. "I need to get that moment on DVD."

Raven rolled her eyes and smirked. "You are a wonderful example for goddesses everywhere."


End file.
